The Innocent

David Baldacci's books very erratic in terms of quality. For example, I enjoyed Zero Day but I thought that True Blue was appallingly bad. The Innocent has a lot of his trademark characteristics and if you're a fan of his, you will no doubt enjoy it. I thought it started really well, but it falls apart due to an absence of credibility that becomes laughable by the end of the book.

The main character is a Government assassin called Will Robie. The early chapters establish that he's a very efficient and clinical killer. Then he gets an assignment which differs from his usual fare - a US citizen on US soil. When he gets to the target's house, he realizes that it's a Government employee who's a solo mother with two young children. He hesitates - and someone else shoots the target. Realizing that he will also be targeted, he bolts for his pre-planned escape route. Almost immediately, he crosses paths with a teenage girl who is also on the run after witnessing the death of her parents.

Up to this point the story is gripping but almost immediately it takes an unlikely turn. Instead of proceeding with his escape plans, Robie decides to go home, hide Julie the teenager and try to solve the mystery of her parents' deaths for her. At the same time he is obliged to start working with the FBI to solve the murder of the very woman that he was hired to kill. Meanwhile there appears to be somebody on the inside who is setting him up at every turn.

The main character - an assassin called Robie - is an intriguing character, but he veers between being extremely smart and extremely slow on the uptake in a way that doesn't make sense unless it's purely to serve the plot. Julie, the 14 year old girl who's just seen her parents murdered, also doesn't feel even remotely credible. More concerned about keeping up her grades than grieving for her parents and able to make deductions that the grown ups miss.

Sunrise Point

A former marine returning home to Virgin River finds love with a single mother.

 Sunrise Point was a WONDERFUL addition to an addictive series. For me, this one rated WAY up there when it comes to all of the books in this series. Be forewarned that this story goes for the heart. The romance unfolds slowly, and it becomes a beautiful friends-to-lovers romance.

Desperate for money and willing to work hard, Nora applies for a backbreaking job of picking apples at Tom Cavanaugh’s orchard, but what she ends up with is a life changing experience of friendship, family, safety, comfort and love like she has never known. But these good things don’t come quickly. While Tom is drawn to Nora, he is not interested in a woman with so much baggage. Two kids and an ex-boyfriend doing time in prison? No thanks.

Shortly after Nora starts work at his orchard, he begins testing the waters with a possible romantic relationship with Darla, a beautiful widow of a former military man he served with. She is nothing like Nora. She is polished, stunningly beautiful, educated, wealthy, independent and without baggage. Only one problem: she’s kind of a spoiled bitch.

Tom Cavanaugh was a wonderful hero, albeit a bit clueless with women but that was part of his charm. While he initially believes Darla to be a better catch for him, his growing friendship with Nora challenges him every step of the way. Watching him come to the realization that Nora was by far the better woman, and that their ‘friendship-only’ status be damned, was incredibly fun to read. I loved every minute of it.

And then there was Maxine, Tom’s grandmother and one of my new favorite secondary characters in Virgin River. I pray we see more of her, I loved that old woman and her lady friends to pieces. Her words of wisdom were well done. She helps Tom to eventually find the right answers without being obvious or pushy, she simply reminds him of what’s important and lets him work it out.

You may remember Nora from Bring Me Home for Christmas as the young lady with a 1-month old who was left abandoned in a rundown home with no windows, refrigeration, food…etc. She made another appearance in Hidden Summit as a neighbor to Leslie, where we got to see that she is doing much better, making friends, but still struggling to make ends meet. I knew I would like her as a heroine of her own romance, but I was not prepared to like Nora this much. Her HEA is one of the sweetest ones in this series, and definitely one of the most deserving.

There were other storylines going on as well, but they did not shorten the romance part down at all. Nora learns more about her parents, the pesky black bear with three cubs returns to wreak more havoc, and Luke Riordan has an old buddy (Coop) come into to town to do some hunting. Turns out Coop has an unfriendly past with Jack, but we will have to wait to see how that story unfolds. I assume Coop will be a hero or major character in a later story. I wasn’t all that impressed with his cocky attitude and the chip on his shoulder, but there were glimpses of a pretty solid guy too, so for now I’m holding judgment if I will like him or not.

I should probably mention again that this was a slower paced romance, so don’t expect any hot and heavy passion early in the book. But it does come, and it does deliver! I would even recommend this book if you want to read it stand-alone. I wouldn’t say that for many of the books, but this one could easily be read out of order as a stand-alone. I sure wish there was another book in this series for me to read, as I always hate reading the last book in her annual trilogies cause that means I have to wait another year to read more.

The Wind Through the Keyhole

Stephen King's newest effort, The Wind Through the Keyhole, combines two of the author's more masterful skills: creating short stories with similar themes in a single package, and writing chapters set in his Western-tinged fantasy The Dark Tower series, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
The title is King's eighth Dark Tower novel, although it takes place between the fourth volume, Wizard and Glass (1997), and the fifth, Wolves of the Calla (2003).
While on their mission to the mythical Dark Tower, the enigmatic gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and his fellow questers take refuge from an oncoming "starkblast," a violent storm that brings deathly cold temperatures and destruction.
Roland tells his people of his early days as a gunslinger from Gilead and how he teamed up with another young man to investigate a shape-shifter, called "the Skin-man," who began a killing spree around a mining town.
King takes the reader down the rabbit hole a little more from there: Roland strikes up a friendship with a boy whose father is murdered and tells him a fairy tale — one that lasts half the novel — involving magicians, dragons, swamp people and an 11-year-old named Tim determined to avenge his father's death.
On anybody else's typewriter, this might have turned into a mess. King, however, shows himself to be an ace storyteller yet again, spinning yarns like a favorite relative about a hero and his adventures in a world like our own but just slightly skewed.
The famed horror-meister has pulled back from expanding the sprawling Dark Tower world to now detailing different parts of its Mid-World, such as creating fairy tales parents tell children, fleshing out previous characters and employing an indigenous speech and vocabulary as distinctive as Elvish or Klingon.
It may not be as much of a page-turner as King's recent novels Under the Dome and 11/22/63 (unless you're already a Tower-phile), but Wind Through the Keyhole is a perfect storm of everything he does well.

Calico Joe - John Grisham

Calico Joe

Calico Joe is the new John Grisham book and is his 26th full-length novel. Calico Joe was released on April 10, 2012 and is yet another bestseller by John Grisham.

Calico Joe will initially be published in hardcover, large-print paperback, ebook and audio book formats.

Calico Joe Book Description:

John Grisham - Calico Joe is a stunning and poignant novel about sons and their dads, the forgiveness and redemption that can be needed in these relationships, all set in the world of Major League Baseball.

It all started innocuously enough. The first baseman for the Cubs Minor League team pulled a hamstring while rounding third trying to score. The following day, the first baseman for the Cubs - Jim Hickman - hurt his back.

With two first basemen out injured, the Cubs urgently needed someone to replace them, so they called up Joe Castle from their AA club in Midland, Texas. Everyone was buzzing about Joe's talent and he'd become the hottest player in AA.

So in the summer of 1973, Joe Castle made an even bigger name for himself. He became the best rookie player Major League Baseball had ever seen. This boy from Calico Rock, Arkansas blew the Cubs fans away as he scored one home run after another, always tipping his hat politely at the fans, on the road to breaking every rookie batting record.

It didn't take long for Calico Joe to become the idol of every baseball fan in the US. This includes Paul Tracey - the son of the Mets pitcher who partied as hard as he threw. Warren Tracey eventually faced Calico Joe, with his son Paul watching in the stands. Paul was cheering for his Dad, but also rooting for everyone's new idol.

But then Warren threw a fastball that would change all their lives. Forever.

This new John Grisham book has thrilling baseball, but what makes Calico Joe a classic is what happens off the field.

You can buy Calico Joe by John Grisham now, so order it today!

TOP TEN ROMANTIC NOVELS 2012

Today we provide a list of top ten romantic novel list of 2012.

you think which is the best romantic book in this year.....

10.THE SCOOP      

                             by fern michaels

9.A Perfect Storm

                              by Lori Foster

8. Loving

                             by Karen Kingsbury

 

7. Lover Reborn

                              by J.R. Ward

 

6. The Marriage Bargain

                               by Jennifer Probst

5.  A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street)

                               by Debbie Macomber

 

4.Betrayal: A Novel 

                                  by Danielle Steel

 

3.Chasing Fire 

  by Nora Roberts

 

 

 

 

 

2. Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two of the Fifty Shades Trilogy (50 Shades Trilogy)

                                  by E.L. James

and now the best romantic novel is

1. Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

                        

 

 by E.L. James

Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

Fifty Shades Freed Book Theme

When unworldly student Anastasia Steele first encountered the driven and dazzling young entrepreneur Christian Grey it sparked a sensual affair that changed both of their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and, ultimately, repelled by Christian’s singular erotic tastes, Ana demands a deeper commitment. Determined to keep her, Christian agrees.

Now, Ana and Christian have it all—love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of possibilities for their future. But Ana knows that loving her Fifty Shades will not be easy, and that being together will pose challenges that neither of them would anticipate. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian’s opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own identity. And Christian must overcome his compulsion to control as he wrestles with the demons of a tormented past.

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Just when it seems that their strength together will eclipse any obstacle, misfortune, malice, and fate conspire to make Ana’s deepest fears turn to reality.

The Lost Year-Books

THE LOST YEAR-STORY PLOT

 The lost year-story during 1958-59 year,when Governor Orval Faubus closed all high schools in Little Rock, locking out 3,665 black and white students from a public education, and locking in almost 200 teachers and administrators to contracts to serve empty classrooms.

Students and citizens were held in limbo. The 10th, 11th and 12th grades were closed. Faubus' school closing occurred at the beginning of the 1958-59 school year. Several weeks later a referendum was held and Little Rock voters, by a three-to-one margin, supported segregation over complete integration of all schools—the only two options on the ballot.
Faubus and segregationist state legislators created new state laws to further forestall court ordered racial integration of schools decreed in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
Predictably, class and race were factors in who found schooling and who did not. Ninety three per cent of white students found some form of education that year. White families were better able to find transportation, pay tuition, or make more elaborate arrangements for alternative schooling.
No private education emerged for blacks and fifty percent did no academic work that year. Many found jobs and hoped that schools would open, or joined the military to finish their education. Many of these students never returned to school.
Ironically, the remaining members of the Little Rock Nine, having suffered through the previous year at Central, were also affected. Some left the state for alternative schooling or enrolled in correspondence courses from universities.

Opposing sides worked publicly and behind the scenes to jockey for control of their community. The Capital Citizens Council and the Mothers' League of Central High represented the segregationist groups.
Few public voices stood for the moderates, but Harry Ashmore, Editor of the Arkansas Gazette, and The Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools were among the first to have the courage to speak out.
Finally in late spring a turning point came in the Lost Year crisis. At a session of the Little Rock School Board, which had gathered to consider renewing the teachers' contracts, three of the six member board walked out. These moderates considered this an end to the official business of the meeting, believing that no further action could be taken by the remaining segregationists.
However, the three remaining segregationists on the Board continued the session, and fired forty-four teachers and administrators who were believed to support racial integration. This purge served as a wake-up call to the city.
Moderates formed STOP (Stop This Outrageous Purge) to recall the segregationist school board members to try to regain control of their community and their public schools.
Segregationist opponents formed CROSS (Committee to Retain our Segregated Schools) and attempted to recall the moderates on the school board. In a twenty day campaign, the opposing sides battled for the hearts of the community.
People of Little Rock had to choose between keeping their beloved teachers and administrators, or bowing to the segregationists' purge. After a year of closed schools and the firing of teachers of both races, the voters of Little Rock narrowly recalled three segregationist School Board members, and the new Board opened schools early for the 1959-60 school year.

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